Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by
James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for

G.D. Searle & Company.
Aspartame is an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener used as a
sugar substitute in some foods and beverages. Aspartame is
a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide. It
was first sold under the brand name NutraSweet; since 2009 it
also has been sold under

the brand name AminoSweet.
In 1985, Monsanto Company bought G.D. Searle, and the aspartame
business became a separate Monsanto subsidiary,